United Nations: 7th Forum on Business and Human Rights, Geneva, 26-28 November 2018

The United Nations annual Forum on Business and Human Rights will take place in Geneva from 26 to 28 November 2018.

The Forum is the global platform for stock-taking and lesson-sharing on efforts to move the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights from paper to practice. The Forum provides a unique space for dialogue between governments, business, civil society, and international organizations on trends, challenges and good practices in preventing and addressing business-related human rights impacts. Each year it brings together more than 2,000 experts, practitioners and leaders for three days of an action- and solution-oriented dialogue.

This year's theme concerns "Business respect for human rights – building on what works", and it aims to drill down on what has been working to date in terms of government, civil society and business practice, but also on what is not working and where current efforts are falling short, and how to fill the gaps. A key concept and tool of the 2018 Forum is that of corporate human rights due diligence. The Forum will examine both emerging practice and enabling factors for corporate human rights due diligence, addressing not only current business practice, but also government action to lead by example in its role as economic actor and to incentivize good business practice, as well as innovations from civil society and rights holders.

The UN Human Rights Council established the Forum in 2011 to serve as a global platform for stakeholders to "discuss trends and challenges in the implementation of the Guiding Principles and promote dialogue and cooperation on issues linked to business and human rights". As set out in Human Rights Council resolutions HRC/RES/17/4 and HRC/RES/35/7 the Forum is guided and chaired by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights.